Broken Hook?

[rboat]

I hooked a nice bass the other day but half way in he got away. I thought he spit the hook but when I checked the hook was broken right in the middle. Never had that happen before. It was a good brand hook, I believe gamakatsu.

I do leave hooks in my soft plastic baits, could the plastic or salt, scent stuff weaken the hooks. I know salt can corrode the metal, but weaken it enough to snap in half? Anyone ever had that happen? Thanks.

[scaleface]

I dont recall ever having a hook break but I  had one straightened .Ive had spinnerbait arms beak before .

[BassinLou]

I hooked a nice bass the other day but half way in he got away. I thought he spit the hook but when I checked the hook was broken right in the middle. Never had that happen before. It was a good brand hook, I believe gamakatsu.

I do leave hooks in my soft plastic baits, could the plastic or salt, scent stuff weaken the hooks. I know salt can corrode the metal, but weaken it enough to snap in half? Anyone ever had that happen? Thanks.

 

Yes very possible. Gami's are great hooks, but like hooks, if they are corroded or have been bent back into place a couple of times, the metal is compromised. 

[desmobob]

It happened to me this summer with what would have most surely been my new PB.  I was throwing a T-rigged 5" Pit Boss on a big VMC wide gap and a monster bass hit it.  After just a few seconds of fighting, I thought she broke off.  Then I felt the weight of the sinker still on the line.  I reeled up and saw that the hook had broken right in the middle.  Bummer!

 

It was a new hook, just out of the package.  I suppose it doesn't take much of a defect to weaken that thin little bit of steel.

 

When you think about it, hooks are amazingly strong and stiff for their diameter... it's hard to believe they can hold their shape without straightening out under the stresses of fighting big fish.

 

Tight lines,

Bob

[Bluebasser86]

I broke a 4/0 VMC HD straight shank flipping hook this summer on the hookset, sometimes I don't know my own strength 

[smalljaw67]

There are a lot of variables, like what kind of rod and line where you using along with the size of the fish and what kind of cover. Then you have to know what kind of hook, for example, I had a guy call me and tell me he bent the hook on a shaky head I made for him, and after taking to him I found him to be using really heavy tackle for a 1/8oz shaky head with a medium wire hook.  The brand of hook isn't as important as the type of hook, so where you using a worm hook or was it in a jig and if so what kind of jig? Most small ball head jigs are made with a type of hook called an Aberdeen hook, these hooks are generally light wire and penetrate with little pressure but they are designed to bend so if you get snagged you simply pull very hard and the hook will bend and then you bend it back, the hook is meant to do that, but if you are using the right tackle you can bring in any fish with those hooks. With worm hooks you have tempered and forged, a tempered hook will bend a little, you here anglers that flip super heavy grass with 65lb braid with 2oz weights talking about using a hook that doesn't flex, and to have that you need a forged hook. Most standard wire and a few heavy wire worm hooks are tempered, they are good because they seldom break or bend but they can, and will flex when used with extreme tactics. That brings me to forged hooks as previously mentioned, forged hooks are often called super line hooks, these are heavy wire hooks and they will not bend much or flex, instead when they become over stressed they can break, I've had a bad batch of forged jig hook and had one break and I've seen it happen with some very expensive hooks. Most won't break unless you over stress by using too small of hook with too heavy tackle but every so often you will have a bad batch meaning the hooks might not have been tempered correctly and if that happens you need the pack the hook came from and you can tell the manufacturer and give them the UPC code which will let them know which lot it came from and if they have any other bad hooks reported from that lot then they can look to see if there is a problem with their tempering process that needs to be addressed.

[WIGuide]

It doesn't happen a lot, but it does happen. I don't know that I've ever broke one on a fish, but I've had them break at other times.

[Darren.]

Only hooks I've broken were a BPS split/drop hook size 1,

and a size 2 Hayabusa muscle hook.

 

Neither were on a fish. Agree that it just happens sometimes,

but I've never had a Gammy or Owner break on me. Gammy

are my favs.

[Montanaro]

Broke a war eagle spinnerbait hook on a tree branch. Should have straightened out first but it snapped.

[S Hovanec]

This is why I gave away all of my Gammie dropshot hooks. Broke 2 of them fighting fish.

[blckshirt98]

I've bent a ton of hooks, but I've never had one break on me.  Granted I now use mostly Owner mosquitos for dropshotting, but the size 4 seems to be the cutoff point for bending hooks.  From size 2 and larger it's much more difficult to get a bent hook (because your line will usually snap first).

[rboat]

To be a bit more exact, the hook that broke on me was a regular Gamakatsu EWG # 3 red color and it was tied on 20lb braid on a medium power spinning rod in open water. I was just kind shocked because i have used the same setup for years and never had a hook break on a fish. 

[S Hovanec]

To be a bit more exact, the hook that broke on me was a regular Gamakatsu EWG # 3 red color and it was tied on 20lb braid on a medium power spinning rod in open water

 

 

Mine were size 4 Gammie Dropshot on 6# fluoro and a MLXF rod.  no way should a hook break on 6# line.

[Sam]

Whoa! Never remember a thread on hooks breaking.

 

Never had it happen to me.

 

Had some get bent but never broken in half.

 

I would have hoped you would have sent the hook back to the manufacturer with a note explaining what happened and asking them for their input.

 

Quality control for hooks must not be at the level we think it is.

[Big Bait Fishing]

step up to some Owner hooks ! when i first started fishing i used to use gamakatsu hooks but quickly realized that they don't stay sharp and flex a lot unless your using the ''superline'' hooks but those things wire size is way too thick . made the change to Owner hooks and have NEVER had a problem with them . they cover all my fishing needs ...

[S Hovanec]

step up to some Owner hooks ..

I now have a box full of Mosquitoes for all of my dropshottimg needs. Leaps and bounds better than the Gammies.

[georgeyew]

I had a jig hook that snapped in the middle of the bend. This was down at Lake Okeechobee last year. I had caught several big fish with it and I was ripping the jig out of a lot of heavy cover. But that was the only time that I've had a hook break on me.

[Big Bait Fishing]

I now have a box full of Mosquitoes for all of my dropshottimg needs. Leaps and bounds better than the Gammies.

also try the Owner Wacky hooks for drop shotting , VERY good ...

[smalljaw67]

To be a bit more exact, the hook that broke on me was a regular Gamakatsu EWG # 3 red color and it was tied on 20lb braid on a medium power spinning rod in open water. I was just kind shocked because i have used the same setup for years and never had a hook break on a fish. 

 

Is that a worm hook or drop shot hook? I know VMC makes a size 3 but I wasn't aware Gamakatsu did also.

[Big Bait Fishing]

Is that a worm hook or drop shot hook? I know VMC makes a size 3 but I wasn't aware Gamakatsu did also.

i think he meant it was a 3/0

[rboat]

Yea, sorry, I meant it was a 3/0 ewg. I snapped half way down the shank.

[davecon]

Many years ago the wife wanted some fish for a family fish fry. I brought home some small bass and as I was cleaning them I found the "point" half of a worm hook in the fish's stomach. Mind you this bass wasn't much more than 13 inches.

Have often thought about the guy that broke that hook. Will probably be telling the story for the rest of his life of a monster fish that was so big he broke the hook ! And to think the fish was only 13 inches.

After all these years I still get a kick out of that.

[rboat]

I fought the fish enough to get a good look at it. It was not a real big fish, maybe 3 - 4lbs., but I was still hoping to get it in the boat. A broken hook sure can be a real bummer.

[hatrix]

It's strange it broke but I believe it. Unless it's a lightwire hook it will break. Any of the heavier duty hooks "superline"? I think they are. They don't bend but will flex a little and if you keep going they just snap. Basically all my EWG style hooks are like that. Go grab a few crappy hooks and some pliers and start trying to bend them out. They might bend out a good way but you might be surprised how many just snap.